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Burnaby South bowls over Oak Bay for Final Four berth

With some flash and a fourth quarter wake-up call, the Burnaby South Rebels earned their spot Thursday in the Final Four of the B.C. 4-A senior boys basketball championships.
Emir Krupic
Burnaby South's Emir Krupic drives to the key during Game 1 of their B.C. 4-A senior boys basketball championship journey at the Langley Events Centre. The Rebels stopped Oak Bay 89-49 on Thursday to advance to Friday's semifinals.

With some flash and a fourth quarter wake-up call, the Burnaby South Rebels earned their spot Thursday in the Final Four of the B.C. 4-A senior boys basketball championships.

Buffered by a well-balanced attack and a sizzling 20-3 second quarter, the No. 1-ranked Rebels downed the Oak Bay Bays 89-49 at the Langley Events Centre, and for the third year in a row will be playing a late game Friday for a berth to the championship final.

Strong defence set the tone for the first half, as Burnaby held the Bays' top shooter, Lucas Maffia, to just 20 points, of which 10 came in the opening quarter and none over the final 15 minutes. A night earlier, the Grade 11 Islander counted 35 points in his team's 81-79 nailbiter win over Tamanawis.

Limiting Oak Bay's second chances and dominating the boards proved to be a recipe that Burnaby South had baked before. Coupled with a slick offence -- the Rebels built up a 19-6 advantage late in the first quarter, then tallied 16 unanswered points to start the second frame -- the squad looked every part of the juggernaut.

The Vancouver Island zone champions did catch a spark in the third quarter, whittling away at a 30-point deficit to trail 53-37 late in the period, but the Rebels firmed up its defence and put the game away convincingly by outscoring the Bays 31-12 over the final 10 minutes.

“We played great defence for the first half and kind of came out a bit slow to start the second," remarked Burnaby South coach Mike Bell. "I got on them, called a time out and then got down to business … We just came out with no energy, flat. The whistles were going the other way – that’s due to us not moving our feet, not playing our hands on defence. I got discouraged and we just had to get back on them to bring the same energy we did to start the game."

Grade 11 guard Justin Sunga led the way with a rounded 18 points, five boards, five assists and three steals. Jareb Pineda demonstrated his sharp shooting eye by sinking four three-point shots and contributing 16 points on the night, while Emir Krupic chipped in 15 points. Also reaching double-digits were Karan Aujla, with 14, and Grade 12 post Sasha Vujisic, with 13.

A year ago, Burnaby South also won the quarter-final contest but lost Vujisic late in the contest to a broken ankle, and saw their dream of repeating as provincial champs dashed in the semifinals. With a healthy lead midway through the fourth quarter and Oak Bay having to help an injured starter off the floor after an innocent-looking battle for a loose ball, Bell parked Vujisic, then a minute later Sunga, on the bench to avoid any misfortune.

"Coming out of it healthy was great. We weren't going to take any chances, not after last year," the coach said.

The Rebels now face No. 4-seed Vancouver College, which moved into the semifinals with a 101-87 decision over Abbotsford earlier in the day. The Fighting Irish bested the Panthers both inside the paint, outscoring them 46-24, and by winning the boards battle to the tune of 38-26.

As far as a match-up goes, Bell noted the two teams haven't met for a few years but expects a guard-driven attack that will test the Rebels defence.

"They’re long in the guard position and have a nice big inside who can dribble the ball outside, play inside and outside. We’ll put our heads together and hopefully come out with a good game plan."

While the team has benefited from a lot of contributions over the first two days, Bell said besides a stretch here and there, the shooters haven't caught fire yet, averaging approximately 50 per cent from field goal range.

“We haven’t had a good shooting day yet, so it’s always tough when you’re not shooting your best. Hopefully the best is yet to come."

The semifinal hits the Langley Events Centre's arena court at 8:45 p.m. on Friday.

Following a quarter-final upset Thursday that saw No. 8-ranked Handsworth take down second-seed Centennial 70-67, the other semifinal will pit No. 3-rated Kelowna against the Royals.

The championship final will take to the court Saturday, 8:15 p.m.